


Older Than His Years

by skargasm



Series: Parental Units [3]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-12
Updated: 2013-09-12
Packaged: 2017-12-26 09:41:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skargasm/pseuds/skargasm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heath was definitely older than his years....but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate the chance for a new start....</p>
            </blockquote>





	Older Than His Years

He had to fight off a fit of the giggles when he heard Dad tell Pop that Heath needed to cultivate better friends. For a relatively ‛new’ father, Xander was trying so hard but he didn’t really seem to ‛get’ Heath. It was really sweet of him but Pop definitely understood Heath’s personality better. It was kinda weird—by unspoken agreement, he and Pop did their best to protect Dad from the realities of being a real demon.

He blushed bright red when he heard that Uncle Giles had told Dad about catching him spying on the slayers in the shower, although he wasn’t surprised at his Pop’s reaction. Besides he wasn’t perving, not really. It was just his demon was completely fascinated by this group of teenage girls that regularly went out and kicked butt. He’d wanted to see them in the skin to try to ascertain if there was anything obviously different about them. There wasn’t—they looked just the same as the fully human girls he’d picked up at the local teenage hangout and fucked—nothing special about them. Maybe it was something on the inside? Somehow he didn’t think Dad would see it as hormonal teenage stuff if he cut one of them open. He’d have to get Pop to tell him about his two slayers—maybe that would assuage his curiousity.

He listened in, enjoying the contentment he often experienced hearing his parents making out. He knew that Dad’s human sensibilities stopped him from cutting loose and relaxing when Heath was home, which was why he so readily agreed to his regular sleepovers with Aunt Buffy or Aunt Willow. He wondered what his Dad would say if he knew that Heath had more than likely had more sexual partners than he had had? Spike, yet again, had understood what he was smelling when he caught Heath sneaking in and had the safe sex talk. It was possible for a Zebatanthon to breed with a human so condoms were a must; no biting or infecting and **definitely** no scent marking—he was too young to thrall a partner as long as he was under Pop’s dominion which would be until he hit twenty human years. Fair enough though.

Realising that Pop had allowed himself to be convinced to go and talk to him about his grades and his friends, Heath scooted down from his hiding place and jogged quickly around the front of the building.

“Hey pup.”

“Pop.”

“Thought you were meant to be round at the slayer’s place.”

“I was just keeping an eye on Dad til you got home.” He easily matched Pop’s stride until they were walking side by side, heading in the direction of Buffy’s townhouse.

“Bloody hell!” Heath went on his guard, reaching for the matching silver daggers he had beneath his leather jacket.

“What is it?”

“Have I told you just how much it creeps me out when you do that?” Pop was gesturing in Heath’s direction with his unlit cigarette. Looking down, Heath realised he had subconsciously taken on Spike’s height, weight and general appearance and he grinned evilly at the grossed out expression on Pop’s face.

“Sorry, it’s just you and Dad are easy to slip into.” With a little bit of effort, Heath concentrated on letting his glamour go, slowly morphing back to his true visage.

“S’better. Dunno why you keep doing that—you’re a good looking boy.”

“You _have_ to say that, you’re my Pop.” Still, it was nice to hear it. He personally thought his dirty blond hair and brown eyes were a bit bland but the girls seemed to like him.

“Do you ever think of them?” He knew instantly who Pop was talking about—they’d had similar conversations over the last six months.

“Not for a while. Let’s be honest, six months of Dad kinda makes up for six years of them.” He dismissed his long-lost family with a shrug of his shoulders. It was true. The sting of being abandoned had faded over the two years he had survived on his own, almost completely wiped away when a bout of pneumonia found him hospitalised and suddenly on Xander Harris’ radar. By the time he’d recovered, he had a new home, was enrolled in High School and suddenly had two new dads.

Six months later and he’d pretty much decided Spike was the father he **wished** he’d been born to and Xander needed more than one keeper. That big heart of his was going to get him killed one day and Heath didn’t envy Spike trying to keep him alive. And yeah, somehow the soft-hearted human had wriggled under Heath’s skin and he found himself acting as protector.

“You heard what your dad said?”

“Huh? Yeah, I heard him. But Pop, Tino, Jordan and Angela aren’t _that_ bad!”

“Bad enough to mess with your grades in school.”

“School doesn’t mean anything in the demon world, you know that Pop.” They came to a standstill just up the street from Buffy’s place.

“But you’re not fully in the demon world pup. Dad’s a human and you can more than pass. Whatever happens in the dark, you can live in the light if you want to.” There was a silence that wasn’t as comfortable as theirs normally were and Heath shifted around a little.

“Pop?”

“Yeah Pet?”

“What if it’s the dark that calls to me? Sometimes—”

“Sometimes it can be hard not to do what you know is wrong? Like use your powers to get what you want maybe?> Sometimes you want to take your little pack and run riot huh?” He nodded, knowing that Pop would get it and wouldn’t judge him for it. There was definitely something to a reformed sinner knowing how you felt. “Look, Heath, I get it—you know I do. But ultimately you’re gonna have to make a choice. I can’t make it for you and neither can your Dad. But I can tell you, we will help you and be with you every step of the way. You’ve got a whole big family now, Heath, don’t give up. Okay?”

“It’s nothing totally evil, not really. It’s just that sometimes—” Frustrating to not be able to articulate just what was going on in his head—if he hadn’t checked for physical evidence he would have been pretty convinced that his tongue was literally tied sometimes.

“I know. Look, nothing stopping you having fun—told you that when I caught you sneaking in after shagging your brains out on the sly. But you start wandering over to the dark and I will kick your scrawny arse, you hear me?”

“Yeah, Pop, I hear you."

“Good. Now bugger off to your Aunt Buffy’s—if I’m lucky your Dad will still be awake when I get back!”

Grinning at Pop’s cheerful lechery, Heath turned to go. He stopped and, not letting himself think about the sudden desire, threw himself into his Pop’s arms and held on tight for a moment. Strong arms wrapped around him and hugged him back and he felt the angel-soft kiss Pop pressed to his head before he pulled away and ran off. His sensitive ears picked up Pop’s words as he scaled the side of the house and scrambled silently through the window he had left open earlier. Once he was safely inside, he turned and stuck his head and shoulders back out so that he could wave to the figure he knew would be silently waiting. Just loudly enough for vampire ears to hear, he said “Love you too Pop.”

As he snuggled down beneath the warm heap of blankets, he found himself wondering why there were never any boy slayers. He might have to sneak into Uncle Giles’ office to see if there were any books on the subject. Eyelids drooping, he wondered whether Tino was ever going to get up the nerve to kiss him. Human girls were very nice but he could well understand the appeal of human boys too. Maybe he’d ask his Dad for help with that one....

* * *


End file.
